Leading Gold Cup contender Coltrane can go the distance

Andrew Balding’s Coltrane is the narrow favourite for Royal Ascot’s most historic race, the Gold Cup (Thursday, 4:20).

Coltrane comes into the race in spectacular form, having won the Group 2 Doncaster Cup in September and the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes at the beginning of last month.

Defending champion Kyprios is absent from the Group 1 feature through injury, leaving the door open for a new champion to take the title in Britain’s most prestigious race for stayers.

However Coltrane, who has developed from a relatively inexpensive yearling into a Group 1 contender, will face stiff competition from St Leger champion Elder Eldarov and Emily Dickinson, who won the Listed Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan in April.

Nevertheless Coltrane looks well-placed to challenge for Kingsclere’s Balding, who is seeking his first Gold Cup triumph.

The six-year-old looks well-suited to the distance of two miles and four furlongs and appears to enjoy Ascot, with two wins and a second placed finish from three visits to the Berkshire track in his career.

In fact, the Mastercraftsman gelding won the Ascot Stakes at last year’s royal meeting at the same trip and so his staying power is not in doubt.

“He’s a course and distance winner, and I think that’s important,” Balding said.

“He’s all but unbeaten on the track, he only went down by a very narrow margin on Champions’ Day last year and he was a bit unlucky.

“I thought he was very impressive in the Sagaro and we’ve been very pleased with him since then.

“I think he’s had a very good lead up to the race and so we’re really excited.”

Meanwhile, Balding had to settle for second on the opening day, Tuesday, as 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean was well-beaten by Paddington in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

Chaldean set off in the hope of partnering Frankie Dettori to another headline grabbing win in this, the legendary jockey’s farewell season.

And the three-year-old, who won the Dewhurst Stakes in October last year before tasting Classic success at Newmarket in May, made all the running but proved no match for Paddington down the straight, who landed trainer Aidan O’Brien a record 83rd Royal Ascot success.

Afterwards, both Dettori and Balding were satisfied with Chaldean’s performance and neither had any complaints about finishing second to a horse of Paddington’s calibre.

Balding said: “He was beaten by a very good horse.

“Frankie has felt he probably just overdid it a little early, but I’m not sure whether that would have made a difference to the result.”

Dettori said: “Chaldean is a super horse.

“He found one too good today, but he was a good second.

“It was a solid run.”